Embracing Destiny
by Shatai
Summary: Takes place after the game ends. It tries to solve the mystery behind Jehuty, ADA and Leo as far as all of their destinies. Kind of like a sequal to the game. This is my first fic and I'd like to know what people think of it. Reviews appreciated.
1. Default Chapter

I don't own Zone of The Enders or any of the characters in this story. Blah blah, the end. Read now.  
  
Chapter One  
  
It was dark, it was always dark. Lights shone brightly around him, but they couldn't ward off all the shadows. They were as much to him as stars were to the blackness of space.  
Green flowed around him in a world of blue. Jehuty's complex circuitry glowed in waves of information constantly being spread to every piece of the powerful frame. Leo Stenbuck grips the controls beneath his hands tightly, not sure what he is doing here. Everything is blurred, nothing had exact detail and he struggled to focus on anything before him.  
There was a flash of red, something shot by, something not quite pieced together, held with an invisible force. Fingers twitched instantly, giving the command to turn Jehuty quickly to the left. In a blur of blue, one thing came into view. A single point in a sea of indistinction.  
Zombie Neith.  
With a quick, fluent movement, the red one flew forward and extended a whip-like arm, a blow that would tear apart Jehuty.  
"Aaaaah!"  
Leo awoke in his room, aboard the spaceship Atlantis.  
He'd had many dreams since his piloting of Jehuty. He'd had dreams about fighting raptors, mummy heads and special programed cyclopses. He'd had dreams about saving civilians and earning approval of ADA, dreams of fighting Tempest Slash and Nightrade. Those were all either exhilarating or somewhat pleasant. Other dreams included Viola, the killer who threatened everything he had and yet he still couldn't bring himself to beat absolutely. He dreamed of her returns in his nightmares, though he knew she was gone now.  
Then there was the dream of Anubis, and those were both frightening and confusing. The frame was practically invincible, untouchable to any of Jehuty's arsenals, even the new ones he'd acquired on his journey. The words of ADA echoed in his head... "You two are not destined to meet yet."  
A small alarm went off, Leo glanced at the halo-clock to his right: six thirty in the morning.  
He didn't have to get up this early. He could lay in bed all day if he wanted, he had no duties aboard The Atlantis; but it was when he would wake up anyway if he were still living on Antilia and he wanted to try and keep things the same. It was one of few things that comforted him now days.  
He got up and made his bed promptly like his father had taught him. He picked up some loose laundry on the floor and deposited the garments into a rectangular slot. After that he selected digits of numbers according to an index nearby, the panel lit up, "Washroom" and a glass barrier slid down as the clothes were sucked up a tube.  
The room he'd been assigned was bigger than his room at home, but small compared to other quarters he'd seen on the ship. The bathroom was right behind where he stood; Leo quickly decided he needed a shower today instead of just dressing.  
After toweling off and fully dressed in clothes Elena had found that matched his own, he was ready for his day, but what to do? He was hungry, he could just eat something here, he had all the supplies he might need in the small kitchen he had; but he thought otherwise and headed out the automatic door, it locking behind him with a vacuum tight seal. He would eat in the cafeteria today, he could take something to Celvice and visit with her for a while. That always took care of a few hours.  
Leo walked down the gray, lighted hallways of The Atlantis. He'd been aboard transport ships like this before, but never one of this company. He passed people by, civilians like himself, all survivors of the attack on Antilia. There was no way The Atlantis could have taken all the survivors, it was more of a cargo unit. Elena told him there were other ships of the same company that made it before and after they left. They would be heading to Mars too.  
He made it to one of the elevators. "Destination?" a computer voice asked, not unlike ADA's.  
"Third deck," the elevator came to life, gravity forces adjusting so the swift movements wouldn't press his body against the ceiling.  
There were five decks aboard The Atlantis. The first two were for storage, then came its giant cargo hold which presently housed Jehuty, then two quarter decks and a bridge. Both the cafeteria and the medical bay were on the same floor, he wouldn't have to switch levels for a while once he got off.  
The elevator suddenly slowed to a complete stop. "Deck Three," the voice rang as Leo stepped off.  
A week ago, thoughts of the fate of Jehuty and ADA would have bothered him. By now he'd numbed himself and focused all his energy on being normal again. Elena told him this company had a program that could help him find his mother or father once they reached the Mars station. He tried to concentrate on what he'd do then, even though he knew neither of them really wanted him.  
The hall entered into the cafeteria. It wasn't exactly big, The Atlantis was made to hold less than two hundred people, only needing about twenty personals to run it efficiently. It was still quite early, about seven, and people were only now starting to enter. Leo hopped into a buffet line before it got too crowded, displaying an I.D. badge on his jacket with a sticker that let him use double rations for another who was unable to make it to the cafeteria.  
Soon he was exiting again, carrying a tray of food with him. It wasn't a whole lot, he knew Celvice liked bagels and he got some pancakes for himself, along with milk and juice. He turned a corner and came up to a counter run by a kind looking, fairly sleepy nurse.  
"Hello Leo," she said with a yawn. She knew his face easily due to his many visits. "I'll just have to see your card again please," he flashed the badge and she nodded with approval, too tired to ask how his friend was doing.  
When he entered Celvice's room, he found the girl already awake and reading a book of some kind. She looked up from her reading when she heard the whoosh of the doors and greeted her visitor with a warm smile.  
"Good morning," Leo said, taking a glance at her charts. The girl's wound had finally started to heal properly and she could move about freely in her bed.  
"Breakfast? How kind of you Leo!" she said excitedly.  
He laughed and set the tray on her lap, taking his own plate for himself and sitting in the chair by the bed.  
"What are you reading?" he asked her.  
"Just a book of poems. One of the nurses lent it to me when I stopped sleeping all day," and from there, their conversation went on as usual; talking about things they did when they were away from each other and what they planned to do once off The Atlantis. Rarely did they talk about their experiences on Antilia anymore, unless it was a distant memory of happier times, but even a thought like that was scarce.  
They had been talking for two hours when a voice came over the intercom. A human voice.  
"Attention all crew members aboard The Atlantis. We are entering the asteroid belt and will at times be firing the cannons. Do not be alarmed, repeat, do not be alarmed by the fire of the cannons. Thank you."  
"That means we're almost to Mars," Leo said quietly, a choke reaching his throat. He quickly suppressed it. He'd held off these emotions thus far, he could make it a few more days. And then a sudden rush of guilt swept over him, how could he repress these emotions? Something he cared about would be destroyed in the name of war. He began to fight back tears in front of his friend.  
"Leo," Celvice said softly, reaching a hand to touch his shoulder.  
He shied away from contact. "I have to go, see you later." And he hastily walked out of the room, Celvice watching mournfully after him.  
Leo trotted down the hall and past the front desk. He quickly jumped into the door of the elevator and ordered it stay shut. The boy sat there, leaning against the hard wall, tears dripping from his eyes.  
"ADA..."  
"Please select the desired location," the computer voice came to life.  
"Huh?" Leo asked stupidly.  
"Select the level in which-"  
"I know what you said," he stared at the control panel for a while, trying to make a decision. Finally, "Main Cargo Bay."  
"Roger," and the elevator shot downward.  
Leo stood up, not sure what he'd do when he got there. He'd just get there first, then figure something out after that.  
"Main Cargo Bay," the voice rang. "please be aware that there is no gravity on this level. Take caution, thank you."  
Leo felt the touch of gravity release him, his hair and loose clothing rising slightly. He wiped off his tears and they spun wildly before splattering on the wall. He pushed off behind him gently, grabbing the handrail to assist his maneuverings. The elevator door closed behind him and immediately left for another passenger.  
The boy soon came to an airlock door, manned by a guard who wore the same clothes as Rock Thunderheart with the exception of a helmet with a tinted glass visor that hid his eyes.  
"May I see your I.D. card?" the man asked suspiciously. Children almost never went into the Cargo Bay unless they were entering or leaving The Atlantis.  
"Please, I have to see the orbital frame," Leo pleaded.  
"Sorry kid, you can't go in without the right clearance."  
"It's all right Officer," Leo turned around and found Elena floating up behind him. "let him pass."  
"Sir," the guard made a quick salute before stepping aside and opening the lock for the two.  
"Thank you Elena," Leo sighed gratefully.  
"It's fine," she said with a laugh, surpassing him to look at the boy face to face. "you should have told me if you wanted to visit the Cargo Bay. I'll arrange to have your badge updated, what are you doing here anyway?"  
"I'm not quite sure," Leo admitted.  
There was silence for a while. Elena tried to start the conversation again, "I'm just here to supervise everyone once the cannons start firing."  
"Will they start soon?" he asked.  
"Very soon, in fact the first volley should start right about..."  
There was the sound of whirling engines and the gathering of energy, followed by several high pitched tones signaling the fire of the cannons. It was strange, after each shot there was sudden silence once the beams made it to the vacuum of space. Leo knew he couldn't hear what came after the shots, but outside The Atlantis asteroids were surely exploding left and right into harmless dust the transport ship could fly through.  
After about five minutes the sound of cannon fire ceased. Elena brought her wrist close to her face which had some sort of communication device on it. One Leo had seen other crew members use, "How'd we do?" she asked into it.  
"Fine, we're clear for several hundred miles." Rock's voice came out of the communicator. "How's everything where you are?"  
"As well, the cannons didn't shake anything."  
"Right then, over and out."  
"Roger," she lowered her wrist and turned to Leo, "now, let's see what you came here for."  
She didn't have to offer any suggestions, they immediately headed for Jehuty.  
The two passed several loads of metatron on their way. Leo wondered what it was all being used for, but all other thoughts fell away once he saw the blue orbital frame again.  
"Jehuty," he whispered, only now noticing how much he'd actually missed the giant robot.  
"Jehuty has been fully repaired," Elena started, "we even had them shine it up a bit. The frame was quite dirty after you were through with it." Elena tried to joke around. The boy was obviously troubled with something.  
"Why bother when you're only going to destroy it?" he asked glumly. He found himself in the same mood he'd once been in back on Antilia.  
"Let's not go through this again," Elena was both sad and angry. She had to admit as sweet as the boy was, Leo could be a brat at times. A wave of grief washed over her as she thought of Alan, her boyfriend who was to pilot the frame originally. "Appreciate what you have an-" she was cut off as everything around them began to shake, explosions popping up everywhere. A case of metatron toppled over tumbling all over the floor dangerously close to a group of volunteer workers.  
"What's happening?" Leo cried.  
"I don't know!"  
"Elena? Elena do you read me?" Rock's voice came out of Elena's wrist communicator.  
"Rock, what's going on?" she demanded.  
"BAHRAM forces are emerging from the asteroids, they're attacking the ship!"  
"BAHRAM?" Leo asked timidly.  
At the same time the computer voice came over the public intercom, "Please remain calm and report to your stations. Please remain calm and report to your stations."  
"They've surrounded us," Rock again, "I can't get at'em with the cannons. I'm coming down to take the frame out!" 


	2. 2

Chapter Two  
  
"Prepare Jehuty for launch!" Elena yelled at some workers who were trying to re-secure the metatron, "Get everyone out of the Cargo Bay now!" she grabbed Leo's arm and pushed off the nearest thing she could to propel speedily for the lock.  
"Rock is taking Jehuty?" Leo asked.  
"Yea, come on, I'll take you to the bridge with me."  
They rushed through the door, Elena stopping briefly to inform the guard what was happening. No doubt he'd already heard from Rock. From there they crammed into the elevator.  
"Bridge, emergency." Elena said somehow calmly.  
"Roger, increasing speed. Caution, gravity adjustments may falter at emergency propulsion. Advise you hold onto something.  
Both Elena and Leo gripped the hand rail as they went from weightlessness to double the force of gravity in a second. Another second passed, the two were hurled upward as the elevator made a sudden stop. Lucky for them the adjusters came into action, grabbing their ankles and pulling them back down before their heads could hit the ceiling.  
The door opened onto an empty bridge. From the main window Leo could see raptors and mummy heads attacking the ship with an assortment of lazer weapons.  
"Where's Rock?" he asked.  
"Oh he'll be out there soon, don't worry," she said, analyzing a panel of streaming data come fresh from computers all over The Atlantis. A grid of the ship came up with green yellow and red spots dotted all over. A section of the lower cargo holds glowed like a fiery volcano.  
Elena flipped a switch turning on a live intercom, "Any crew members in cargo hold 02 please evacuate immediately. Any crew members in cargo hold 02 evacuate immediately."  
Then she switched to a private channel.  
"Rock, you there?"  
"Affirmative, I'm leaving the Bay area in twenty seconds."  
"They're going for our belly, I can't shoot them there."  
"I noticed that, I'll be out soon. Thunderheart out"  
With that Elena moved to another console with a set of controls similar to that in Jehuty which controlled weaponry. She fingered them carefully, taking aim to a cluster of slow moving mummy heads. With a tap the cannons ignited, destroying the party easily.  
"Take the monitor near the pilot seat Leo, select the outer camera of the belly and tell me how Rock's doing."  
The boy didn't question anything, simply took action. She admired him for that. For a moment Elena wondered if that was forged into him after his battles with Jehuty or if it came naturally to the ender.  
Leo knew how to use a monitor, quickly selecting the desired views. The screen lit up, slightly distorted but legible and he began to watch Jehuty back in action.  
Never before had he watched the frame fight, he'd always been in the cockpit. He was mesmerized by its abilities to quickly dodge, dash and strike with ease as it wove between enemies, striking each one down with its sword. He couldn't help thinking, had Jehuty looked that good when he piloted it, or was this Rock?  
A gang of mummy heads approached the blue frame and began to siege it heavily. Rock proved to be less skilled at far range combat and struggled to both comets while at the same time shielding against phalanx. He saw why Rock had made him save the colony instead of himself as he made the poor decision of shielding while an impending halberd came across and struck a disorienting blow to the robot. As it was stunned, the comets all soon met their target and at the same time the phalanx continually barraged the frame. Leo couldn't help but cringe as blow after blow was made.  
"How's Rock Leo?" Elena said from across the room.  
"He's been hit several times by mummy head fire, raptors are closing in!"  
Elena cursed and pulled up her sleeve after one last shot, "Rock, come in. What's your status?"  
There was the sound of static, followed by the pilot's groaning voice, "I've been injured, I can barely maneuver the frame let alone attack. I'm coming back in."  
Elena sighed, lowering her arm. Leo gazed at her, wondering how she'd react. As if feeling his eyes on her, she turned and looked at him, sorrow in her eyes.  
"Leo, there's no one else. Rock was the only other runner on board. We need you to fight again Leo, we need you to fight for everyone on board." She felt guilty asking him again. How many times had she given this speech?  
Leo's eyes diverted to the floor beneath him, where Celvice lay helpless in her bed, "Celvice..."   
Without another word he was soon back outside the lock to the Cargo Bay, waiting for it to pressurize once again. A team with pressure suites was already in there, trying to get Rock out of the cockpit, at least the guard informed Elena through a communicator when she called down to let Leo pass.  
The doors opened with a hiss, signaling the room wasn't completely pressurized but at safe levels. Rock was being carried out on a stretcher unconscious. There were burn marks all over him and a heavy head wound. Leo wondered if Jehuty was even pilot-able.  
He floated through after letting the team in. The rumbling increased, he had to get out there! Everyone on this ship was depending on him, if they knew what was going on.  
Leo paused for a moment when he came to the robot, he would have to work with ADA again. He'd had trouble at first listening to the computers on the ship, now he'd have to confront the actual thing.   
The boy gritted his teeth and jumped upward, grabbing a pole to stop at the cockpit level. He gently touched the canopy and it disappeared in its many digits. Leo hopped in, finding the computer still activated, the canopy reappearing overhead.  
The ADA sign flashed on the screen before him, "Ready to resume combat operations."  
"ADA..." Leo whispered.  
"Yes?"  
Leo shook his head, "Take us outside."  
"Roger, commencing departure procedures."  
The Cargo Bay depressurized once again, the holds on Jehuty released leaving the frame suspended by zero gravity. All too slowly, they began to back out, the hatch opening. Finally, the thrusters burst and Leo was outside.  
First, he wasn't sure what to do, "The belly Leo! They've made several breaches!" came Elena's voice when she noticed his hesitation.  
"Right," he said, and shot Jehuty to the bottom side of the Atlantis.  
The same mummy head trio was there. Leo came out of his dash with a lazer attack that struck one from behind. They all turned to acknowledge him as a threat, cannon's glowing ominously.  
"Come and get me!" he yelled. He knew it didn't really encourage them but he had to divert them from the ship.  
A halberd appeared. Leo flipped Jehuty downward between the beams and came up with a dash attack, instantly destroying the low leveled frame. The others complied with their own halberds. The same tactic had been used on Leo many times before. He used Jehuty's expert maneuver abilities to weave between and around the attacks, following with both close and long range attacks where they were needed. Soon there only lay scattered bits and pieces of the things as Jehuty stood victorious.  
A flock of raptors approached him, too many to fight all at once. Leo pressed against the controls, summoning a burst attack to form over Jehuty's head. He waited for them to come at the right distance before dropping the ball and punching it hard, aiming for the center of the flock.  
The group split in two, the burst attack meeting its one target and annihilating it with an explosion of brilliant blue energy. Immediately Leo dashed for the left side. Four raptors, levels two three and five. He went immediately for the leader, the level five. he pretended as if he'd use a dash attack, then as the raptor dodged to one side he flipped backwards and came down hard on the frame with Jehuty's blade. With it stunned, Jehuty powered up and released a wave of energy from its sword in a circled motion, splitting the frame in two. The rest of the frames immediately dropped to level one and Leo easily destroyed each one with a long range attack. Now for the other side.  
  
"Look at him..." Elena awed from the monitor on the bridge, "he flies the frame as if it's his own body. Look at his reaction time, his tactics, his skill, amazing..."  
  
"We will cease battle position." ADA's voice informed him as yet another raptor fell victim to Jehuty's blade. "Well done sir, attack on The Atlantis has stopped. The enemy is retreating."  
"Good job Leo," Elena again.  
"Thanks," Leo said, out of breath.  
"Come on back in, you've deserved a rest." 


	3. 3

AF: Shatai owns nuthin!   
Shatai: Nope... read. Please. Okay.  
  
Chapter Three  
  
He sat in the glow of holo-screens fluently displaying data of the status all around him. The dull green stretched upon his shadowy face, eyes closed, relaxing, contemplating what had happened and what must be done. Bandages were wrapped wherever his skin had been exposed while aboard Jehuty. They were numb with special ointment used for burns of the plasma and metatron ingrained in the frame's system. His face was half covered in wrappings that were at a time red. But the bleeding had stopped long ago, before he had come to consciousness. All he could remember was initializing the docking sequence and then he'd been hit in the head.  
The computer tones rang, the doorbell of the future. The specific sound told Rock who was there, "Come in Elena,"  
The door opened with the rustling of air. The tall thin blonde haired woman stepped in formally, back straight, steps deliberate, hands behind her back, "How are you doing?"  
Rock was in his favorite chair facing a closed window, how she knew she'd find him, "Lights," he said roughly and the room brightened after a comply from the computer. The soldier turned slowly in his chair to face the doorway, brushing his nose with a bandaged thumb, "As well as can be expected. What about the boy?"  
"Leo's just fine, he should be in his quarters now."  
"Does the whole crew know?" he asked bluntly.  
She couldn't help but smirk, "I only told the guard on watch to let him through. The team that got you out surely saw him run in."  
Rock huffed, "Great, the entire ship knows by now. The mighty Rock Thunderheart, their rough commander was outdone by a child of fourteen."  
"That's actually what I came to talk to you about," Elena pulled a hand from behind her back, displaying a tiny one inch compact disc.  
Rock raised an eyebrow amusedly and flicked a finger to the display panel. Elena walked over and pushed the disk into a reader, pressed several access codes quickly and selected the desired image. Jehuty appeared from one of The Atlantis' outer cameras battling with the intruding army.  
"I've seen him fight before, I know he's better than me," Rock spoke after watching the frame destroy three raptors and two mummy heads within a matter of seconds.  
"You never saw from a tactical camera."  
"What is a tactical program doing on an outer camera?" Rock asked.  
Tactical cameras were used in training camps for runners. They gave the speed, reaction time, and attack power sufficiency of any selected frames one the monitor.  
"I downloaded it before he launched, I had to check something, look at his data."  
Rock squinted at the tiny constant green print in a corner, "Reaction time point one three?" he asked startled, "Elena, Jehuty doesn't have reaction time point one three..."  
"I'm well aware. Watch him move, not even the best can learn that in training. Now look at this," she leaned over and selected a new file.   
A map of the section of the meteor belt they were treading through came up. A green silhouette of The Atlantis appeared just at the inner layer. A group of dots was heading away towards a highlighted section of the belt.   
"I intercepted this from one of the retreating raptors," she explained, "It's coordinates for a destination."  
"I know what it is," Rock interrupted, "why are you showing it to me? We're just going to avoid it and any other conflict like mission orders say aren't we?"  
"It's an area rich in resources," she explained, "I think this may be one of the BAHRAM's key sources of metatron."  
"Are you talking about Talron? No one's been able to discover it's location."  
"Why else would there be so many frames in this sector? Our side hasn't explored the belt since BAHRAM destroyed the belt colony after Antilia was built. The field is nearly impossible to navigate through properly, all anyone does is slice their way through. If someone comes across Talron, BAHRAM destroys them, it's simply chance that lets one find such a place. We're lucky we had Jehuty with us."  
"You're saying we disobey orders and invade a heavily armed base with one war frame and some cannons? This ship wasn't designed for combat Elena and you know it. There's something else you want."  
There was a pause in vocal communication. The two stared at one another. They'd been friends for years, even since Elena was assigned to The Atlantis, more could be said silently in three seconds than three hours.  
"It's about Alan isn't it?"  
"Alan died for something only to be destroyed a month later." The captain said coldly. The warm, friendly expression in her voice was gone, her eyes determined and unmoving from Rock's questioning gaze. "They're going to find us eventually anyway and kill us off. They know we could have easily intercepted the retreat signal, those frames were low leveled and knew no better. The one flaw in their system. They depend too much on their field."  
The monitor switched back to Jehuty slaughtering the other frames, untouched by anything but the blade to its victim. The stats were highlighted and expanded for better observation.  
"Jehuty was created for missions like this," Elena started again, "its soul purpose in this universe is to save and maintain civilization."  
"You're just talking about the outcome of the loss of this war," Rock said harshly, this was turning into nonsense.  
"How else do you explain these readings? It's exceeding top expectations under Leo's influences."  
"The boy won't kill," said Rock, trying to keep to one subject, "better to let them come at us and have him defend the ship."  
"You're not talking like a man of war Thunderheart."  
"There's more to this damn it Elena and you won't tell me!"  
"Leo can save Jehuty. I want to prove it."  
  
"You did it Leo!" Celvice's cheerful voice rang throughout the room as the once again runner entered.  
"You know about this?" he asked, blushing a bit.  
"Are you kidding? The entire ship knows! I heard the nurses talking about a young boy piloting Jehuty after Thunderheart was injured and had to come back in. Of course I knew it was you."  
"I'm not sure I want people to know I saved the colony, or about this. I did what had to be done then, and I did the same now."  
"And I'm proud of you for that. And I admire your modesty," she smiled and patted the chair, encouraging him to sit.  
"Did you tell anyone it was me?" he asked.  
"The nurses already knew when I came in with my wound. I'm surprised you haven't already gotten any special attention since we've been on board."  
"I think Elena asked everyone to leave me alone."  
"Yes, that must be it, she's so considerate."   
There was an awkward silence. Neither knew quite what to talk about. Leo piloting Jehuty was a touchy subject. There had been no announcements to him of any mission plans, Jehuty would still self destruct on Mars.  
"The nurses tell me I'll be able to move about the ship soon." Celvice started again.  
"That's great, you look much better. Will you be able to walk on your own?"  
"I'll need crutches for a week. I'm so excited! I haven't seen anything of The Atlantis except these four walls and whatever might be outside my little window-"  
"Leo, would you please come meet me in Rock's quarters?" Elena's voice cut the girl off. Leo had been given a private wrist communicator like Elena's after his fight outside the ship. The captain had said she'd be contacting him soon after.  
"Is it important? I just got to Celvice," he said, lifting his arm the way Elena had and pressing the button how he'd been shown. He let go and waited for a response.  
"Finish up when you can, there's little time. I can't tell you what over air, it has to be done in private."  
"Roger,"  
"I'm out, be here soon."  
Leo was a bit disturbed by Elena's tone. It wasn't like her.  
"I guess I better go, another visit cut short..." he gave an apologetic stare, "Sorry."  
"It's fine. There are things more important to be done."  
He nodded and walked out as subtly as he had entered.  
  
"Welcome Leo," Rock sounded. He was sitting in his chair, Elena standing to one side.  
"Hi," he responded nervously.  
"Sorry I had to cut your private time short," said the woman with a smile.  
Leo sighed with relief. She was the same as she'd always been, "What do you need?"  
"We need you to fight again." said Rock.  
"Are there raptors nearby?" he asked worried.  
"No, but there will be soon if we don't act fast," he brought up a display, the same one Elena had showed himself earlier. "There is a mining facility very near here owned by BAHRAM. They're very dependent on the minerals they find in that section and are even more protective of it. No one's been able to locate it until now."  
"You want me to invade and destroy something?" he was disgusted by the thought, to do the same thing that had happened to him to another. It was unimaginable in his mind.  
"Hold on now, let me finish. I know you'll ask for someone else to do it and if I had it my way I'd call for a proper squad to go in and infiltrate it. But it's a question of time and tactics. They already have the message that a ship's cruising through this area and are collecting frames to attack us as we speak. Probably five times as many as we saw earlier, too many for even you to handle all at once.  
"However, if we're on the attack we'll also have the element of surprise. We should be able to get a bomb big enough to destroy the estimated size of such a place," he stopped, leaving free air for any questions.  
"A bomb? Won't people be killed?"  
"We knew you'd be concerned with that subject," Elena spoke up, "and we think we've devised a plan that'll bypass that. You see, we can first have Jehuty drop a false bomb that gives off the same signal as a regular one. Sensors will pick it up and begin evacuation sequences. We'll let you know, and so will ADA for your approval, when all vital life forms have fled letting you plant the real bomb and destroy the mine," she smiled as she saw the boy's face relax, "we have to tell you that this plan puts you at greater risk. As you know you're not an official runner and we cannot order you to do anything. The chances of us attacking the base has a much greater chance of The Atlantis' survival rather than waiting for them to make an organized attack. We can only ask."  
Leo nodded. He wasn't sure about the plan, he knew from experience evacuations didn't always work the way they should. But there was no other choice. If the mission were successful there would be far less casualties. Then again, if something went wrong the numbers could double...  
A sudden twinge in the air caught his attention. His head jerked, his ear facing open space. Something was calling for him, he longed to call back, but felt he couldn't from where he stood. And it was then he felt the void deep within himself. The void he now knew had always been there but was only noticeable after being filled and then emptied again. He had been whole in Jehuty with ADA. ADA had exceeded her programming with his influence. Together they were something neither had ever been.  
Rock looked at Elena as she watched him in silence listening for something.  
"Leo? Leo are you all right boy?"  
He blinked, realizing he was still with the two. "All right," he said, "I'll do it." 


End file.
